I know I said I would bring back a variety of "friture" orApril First chocolate fish to do a tasting or a "flight" comparing quality, texture etc. But why not instead, allow myself just ONE chocolate fish per diem until I return to Paris in 6 months in October.

160 chocolate fish are required for this experiment.

I am 9 fish short

I only brought back 151 little fishies. Amazing isn't it? I'm getting better at numbers. I just don't want to lose the new restraint I gained from The Euro Diet. Qui sait? Worth a try, non? I'll keep you posted.

Meanwhile there is otherParis booty I want to share with you - at least visually - intense tablettes from Jean-Paul Hevin. This is the first time I've brought back macarons - I forgot they were there.... Something else I forgot lurking in the fridge. Quelle tragedie!APierre Herme Ispahan I never got to taste... Something always goes wrong on a trip. Another mishap - a broken chocolate chicken from Marquise de Sevigne. At least this mishap I could bring home. On AirFrance coming home, I sat next to Berliner Jochen, visiting New York for the 1st time. He gave me a chocolate ladybug (marienkäfer). It brings good luck, so I'm saving it. Danke JochenI'm back to paying bills, back to painting, back to New York's sunny blue skies. But I miss Paris' grey, overcast skies and streets full of silly small dogs and the shop windows full of amazing desserts and, and, and...

So happy you and your 'bootie' made it home in relative good condition. :)Looks like some good things there. Can't wait for the paintings to start coming now. I've been promised some Macarons when my friend comes back from France next week. Paul Macarons at that. They have a shop in the South of France now. I am excited. Hope she remembers now. :)

Welcome back to the States [I think!]I will miss the Paris photos, but I really like the collages with the travel items. On my 2002 trip I saved everything I could in a zip-lock bag and created a collage in a shadowbox frame when I got back. It makes me smile wistfully whenever I look at it. I'm sure it has no meaning to anyone but myself, but every little item, including the plastic axes from the Buche de Noell, remind me of what I was doing when I was there.

There will be plenty more of Paris photos, Stephanie, since I took over 3,000 pictures.Not to worry. But I love the idea of doing a collage with the residue from a trip. I could cover the walls here with all the stuff I've got!

Welcome home, Carol! I always enjoy reading your blog when I get a chance to, but especially when I'm on the road--it's a treat that makes me feel something's still stable in my life! That hotel sign is a riot--does it say anything on the flip side?!

Good for you being good with your eating on the road. I wish I could say the same--I always think it's the hardest thing to eat well on the road. I really try, but it's hard, and I'm not even around wonderful, decadent indulgences like you are--macarons, chocolates, etc...

anyway, good to have you back on this side of the pond for now, and look forward to your next jaunt off to Paris.sue

SUE The back of the hotel card says, "The Bitch is Out" My room mate had turned that side out while I was away to remind herself I guess that she was on vacation too :)

Anne Corrons Shocking isn't it to forget a precious Ispahan. I did photograph it and meant to eat it. It was only when I was surfing and saw the thing featured on a site that I ran to to check on it and mold had gotten there before me :(Domage...

Merisi I only wish I felt like walking anywhere. I'm dog-tired from Paris non-stop running and I'm taking hourly doses of pomegranete seeds to keep the cold wolf from my door.

Cris in Oregon might I suggest that your friend see what other kind of macarons she can bring back to you? PAUL is too big - the STARBUCKS of France. Maybe I should send you some of my booty for your first taste..?

I love to read your Paris adventures! May I ask a question? How do you get those boxes in the "laduree green" - do you have to buy a certain number of mac's or are they prepacked??? I have seen them in all sizes and colours - I like that pink they do too!

I just started reading your blog and I didn't realize that you regularly traveled to Paris. How lucky for you! I have never been anywhere outside the United States, except Burmuda. Too much on the home front, I guess. Oh to be a free-spirit travelling artist like you...

I was so impressed to see that you returned without even skipping a beat with your posts! Bravo! THEN, I lost all respect for you. You FORGOT an Isphahan? Don't you know there are starving suburbanites in the heartland who might sell their firstborn for an Ispahan? Ok, so the firstborn wouldn't fetch the price of the ticket to Paris. They would have to resort to a life of crime, breaking into mansions and fencing jewels. ...no, that just wouldn't be right. They would buy dozens of French cookbooks, bake hundreds of macarons, double dig a new vegetable bed, and plant 6 varieties of raspberries, which would have to be weeded, mulched, watered, and pruned for at least 2 years before even harvesting a single berry! And you forgot an Isphahan! Hmph!Well, I'm still glad you're back. Next trip, you will have to eat Isphahan every day for penance.

Glad you are home safely. I love to read about your experiences. My husband and I will soon board a cruise ship for Barcelona and then fly to Germany for a visit. I hope that I will have as much excitement as you have had. I will remember to go and just look in to the shops in Barcelona and in Germany since we, too, will be on the Euro diet.

ParisBreakfast Letters

♥carol gillott♥

l'Ile Saint Louis, Paris, Ile de France, France

Hi I'm Carol Gillott,
My Mom taught me watercolors at 5. I'm still at it on l'Ile Saint-Louis In Paris. Subscribe to my watercolor Paris letters and maps on Etsy and enjoy a Parisian souvenir in your mailbox every month. Savor with a hot chocolate and croissant.
I paint Paris dreams.